What Happiness Feels Like
by NadiaInklover
Summary: Christmas Eve at the Bane-Lightwood house for the very first time for baby Max. Creating new traditions and spending time together as a family. One-Shot. Malec.


**HELLO! This is a one-shot I wrote while at work :) It came as a prompt by the wonderful Malesismylife4ever! She wanted a first Christmas with little Max...so here it is! :D**

 **Hope you enjoy! :D I am taking Christmas Prompts so if you have any you would like me to write about...lemme know and I may write it! :D**

 **I own nothing but the plot and some OCs I may use**

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"Alexander" Someone whispered, waking Alec from his deep sleep. Alec groaned and tried to go back to sleep. "Alec, darling, wake up"

"g'way" Alec mumbled against his pillow.

"Alexander, you need to wake up!" Magnus tried to shake his shoulder.

"Why? What's going on?" Alec asked, more awake now and alert.

There was some urgency on Magnus's voice that had Alec alert in seconds. If something was wrong, he needed to do something about it.

"It's Christmas eve!" Magnus grinned from ear to ear.

"Ough Magnus" Alec moaned falling back against his pillow "I thought something was wrong"

"We need to get ready!" Magnus insisted.

"It's 7 in the morning" Alec frowned, looking at the clock on the night stand. "We have nothing to do until 5pm"

"We have plenty to do" Magnus said, standing up and moving to draw the curtains on the window open.

Bright sunlight streamed inside the room. Alec groaned when it hit his eyes and tried to hide beneath the covers. Magnus chuckled at his partner.

"Get up. I'll be down doing breakfast while you wake Max, yeah?" Magnus grinned and walked out of the room and towards the kitchen.

Alec groaned and tried to decide if it was worth going back to sleep and face Magnus's wrath afterwards. Apparently, he had no choice but to get up as Max started crying from his room.

With a sigh, Alec stood up, put on some jeans and a T-shirt and walked towards his son's room. There, at the crib, Max was crying moving his arms and legs. Alec moved closer and pulled him up, cooing as Max continued crying in Alec's arms.

"There, there Max" Alec whispered, nuzzling his son's cheek. "What's wrong? are you hungry? had a bad dream?"

Max started to calm down as Alec held him close. He opened his bright blue eyes and stared up at Alec. He had tears running down his chubby cheeks and his eyes were glassy, but they were still the most beautiful thing Alec had seen. Dropping a kiss to his forehead, Alec moved to change Max's diaper. Pulling up the clothes Magnus had previously chosen for their baby, Alec dressed their son and then carried him towards the kitchen.

Magnus was making pancakes on the stove when Alec arrived. Placing Max on the high chair by the table, Alec moved to kiss Magnus's cheek.

"Good morning" Alec said, properly greeting his partner now.

"Morning" Magnus grinned, turning around and pecking Alec on the lips "I'm glad to see you're finally awake"

Magnus moved towards the high-chair and kissed Max's cheek fondly. Max cooed happily at Magnus and then burst into hysterical giggles when Magnus blew a raspberry on his cheek. Alec chuckled at the two of them and moved to prepare a bottle for Max. Magnus finished with the pancakes and started to set the table as Alec verified the temperature of the bottle. Once he was satisfied it was not too hot, Alec moved and gave the bottle to Max. Max grinned happily, taking the bottle in his hands and drinking it. He was now able to hold the bottle by himself and drink it completely without the help of his parents. Magnus and Alec still kept a close eye on him, though. He had the tendency of dropping the bottle or just letting the milk go everywhere except his mouth. Magnus used to get really frustrated because Max would get milk all over the very expensive clothes Magnus had bought for him. Alec would just roll his eyes, knowing there was no point telling Magnus that Max did not need designer clothes since he could not appreciate them at such young age.

"So what are the plans for today?" Alec asked, biting off from his pancakes.

"Well, we have a very busy schedule" Magnus said, wiping Max's chin with a napkin. "Today is a very important day"

"It's Christmas Eve" Alec said "Nothing exciting will happen until later in the evening"

"It is Max's first christmas!" Magnus cried "It has to be perfect!"

"Oh God...I can hear you thinking" Alec groaned, dropping his fork on the plate "Please, don't go too overboard"

"Of course not" Magnus said "We'll just bake some cookies, go take a photo with Santa and then have a nice family dinner at your parent's house and open lots and lots of presents"

"We don't open presents until tomorrow morning, though" Alec pointed out.

"I'm from Indonesia, I do it differently" Magnus shrugged.

"How do they celebrate Christmas in Indonesia?" Alec asked, seriously curious.

"I have no idea" Magnus flashed him a cheeky grin before standing up and taking the now empty bottle from Max's hands. "Now go get ready! We have a Christmas Shop to visit"

"Christmas Shop?" Alec asked, but received no answer from his partner.

With a sigh, Alec finished eating and turned to look at his son. Magnus had walked out of the kitchen and towards their bedroom, where Alec knew he would be dressing up. Max was playing with a small plastic spoon, that Alec had no idea where he had gotten it from. Alec chuckled as Max just banged the spoon against the table, giggling happily at the sounds it made.

"Okay champ" Alec said, standing up and lifting him up from the high chair. "How about we sit you down for a movie while your Daddy and I get ready, yeah?"

Max oohed happily at him, his little hands moving to touch Alec's cheeks. Alec grinned down at his son and leaned down to give him a eskimo kiss. Max giggled at the closeness and patted Alec's cheeks again. Alec walked towards the living room. Placing Max on a mat on the floor surrounded with pillows, Alec turned on the TV and started one of the many Disney Movies Magnus had bought for Max. Max stared happily at the many colors of the TV as the movie started and Alec placed Max's favorite toys next to him in case he got bored. Kissing Max's head, Alec walked off towards his bedroom to get ready for the day they had ahead of them.

Alec could hear Magnus singing loudly from the bathroom as the warlock fixed his make-up and hair. Alec smiled to himself as he walked towards their shared closet. It was mostly filled with Magnus's clothes, but part of it had his own clothes. He now had shirts of different colors that Magnus had convinced him of getting. He pulled up a dark green shirt over his torso. It hugged his body slightly, just the way Magnus loved. He also pulled some black jeans and black converse. Pulling over his head a grey knitted sweater, Alec walked towards the bathroom to wash his teeth. Inside, Magnus was applying some eyeliner, still mouthing the words of some song he had heard on the radio.

"Where's Max?" Magnus asked, moving to apply the eyeliner to his other eye.

"In the living room watching the TV" Alec explained as he started to wash his teeth.

"I love that shirt on you" Magnus said looking over at Alec "Wish you would not cover it with that sweater"

"Magnus, it's cold outside" Alec rolled his eyes "I refuse to go out without a sweater and a jacket over it"

"Spoil sport" Magnus teased but kissed Alec's cheek.

Magnus moved to apply some lip-gloss to his lips. After making sure his make-up and hair was flawless, Magnus walked towards the bedroom to pull up his boots. After both of them were ready, Magnus walked towards the living room. Max was not longer looking at the TV and was instead babbling to the stuffed baby duck Isabelle had gifted him. She had bought it just to bother Jace, but once Max caught sight of it, he would not let it go. It was his favorite toy and would never calm down without it.

"Oh look at you!" Magnus said lifting him up "Already talking! You're such a smart young man!"

"I would barely count that as talking" Alec said, getting the baby bag ready.

"Hush you" Magnus said and then turned towards Max "Your papa does not know what he's talking about"

"Are you ready?" Alec asked, rolling his eyes fondly at his partner.

"Almost, we need to get Max into his booties and sweater. We do not want him to get too cold"

"I'll get them" Alec said moving towards the baby's room.

"Make sure you grab the sky-blue and not the teal one!" Magnus called.

"They're all the same!" Alec called back, but picked the correct sweater anyways.

"No they're not" Magnus sighed, making Max giggle happily.

Max kept babbling, now talking to Magnus. Magnus listened to him seriously, and nodded every once in a while as if he understood exactly what Max was telling him. Magnus claimed it encouraged Max to keep talking, and soon enough he would be forming complete words. "He's still too young for that Mags" Alec would say, but Magnus would still do it.

"All ready?" Alec asked as he reached them.

"Yep!" Magnus grinned and helped Max into the booties and the sweater. Putting on their coats and wrapping Max in a blanket for extra warmth, the trio walked out of the Bane-Lightwood household.

Together, they made their way towards the small christmas market that had been set up. There were different stands with food and gifts and lights decorated the streets. Max oohed and aahed at the different lights and toys all around the place. Magnus carried Max, secured in his arm, while his other hand was linked with Alec's. They window-shopped for a moment, trying to get Max away from anything he could touch and break. Magnus had placed a small glamour spell over himself and baby Max so the mundanes would not start freaking out or questioning them.

"Awn! You're such a cutie!" A girl behind one of the many counters squealed at the sight of Max.

The Bane-Lightwood family had stopped in front of a small stand that sold wood figurines. Max had instantly snatched a small wooden horse before Alec could stop him. Max laughed happily as he waved the toy up and down. The girl behind the counter had instantly fallen in love with the cute baby in front of her.

"Come on Max" Magnus said, moving back so the toy did not hit him on the face "Let that go. You can't have that"

When Alec tried to take the toy off Max's hands, the little boy started to whimper. Magnus started to bounce him on his arms, trying to get him to calm down before he burst into full crying. Alec was able to take the toy completely from his hands and placed it back on the table, apologizing to the girl behind the counter. Max reached his little hand, trying to grab the toy again, but Magnus held him away from it. Both of them knew they could not get Max every single toy Max grabbed or took interest in. He had plenty of toys back home.

"Oh don't cry baby" The girl cooed "You can have the toy"

"No, it's alright" Alec told her directly "We're leaving now"

"Come on Max" Magnus shushed "No need to cry baby"

"He's such a beautiful baby boy" The girl continued talking, smiling kindly at the couple.

"Thanks" Magnus smiled. Max had not started crying, but he was still whimpering pitifully.

He was still trying to reach for the toy, his little hands opening and closing as he struggled against his daddy's arms. Alec moved forward when he saw Magnus was struggling to keep Max in place. Taking the baby from his partner's arms, Alec hugged Max to his body and tried to settle him down. Max snuggled against Alec's sweater, loving the warmth it brought and the softness against his sensitive skin. Max seemed to love the many sweaters Alec wore, no matter how worn out or old they were, much to the charging of Magnus.

"He's so precious!" The girl sighed happily "You guys are just so cute together!"

"why, thank you" Magnus grinned, brushing some of the hair from Max's forehead.

Magnus stroked the little horns on top of Max's head. Both Alec and Magnus loved doing that, and Max enjoyed the feeling. They were an extremely sensitive part of his body and he enjoyed when his parents stroked or kissed them. It was just one of the many things that made their little baby so special and unique.

The mundane girl was not able to see the little horns, though. So for her, it just seemed as if Magnus was stroking Max's hair. When Alec turned around to smile at the girl once more, Max caught sight of the wooden horses again and trying to reach for them. Alec groaned, realizing his mistake and pulled Max away.

"No Max, you can't have one of those" Alec cooed softly.

"Here" The girl smiled, handing Max another wooden horse, this one smaller than the one he had grabbed before.

Magnus gave the girl a look that clearly read 'you're not helping' but the girl just grinned at them.

"That one is on the house" The girl shrugged.

"Oh no" Alec shook his head "We could not-"

"They're supposed to be gifts for the customers" The girl explained "We will give them for free anyways"

"But we are not customers" Magnus pointed out.

"If you don't tell, I won't either" the girl winked.

Max grabbed happily the little horse and started waving it around. He flashed a bright smile to his daddy and Magnus's heart melted right there and there.

"Thank you" Alec smiled at the girl.

"Happy Holidays!" She flashed them a grin and the three of them moved on.

They walked around the market for a little bit more, Magnus buying some hot-drinks for Alec and himself while they walked. Max babbled happily as they moved, his eyes drifting through the different lights around them and laughing at all the sounds that surrounded them.

They reached a line of people in the middle of the market. Alec looked around and found the line guided towards the christmas tree. They noticed the line was formed with parents and little kids, all waiting excited as they moved forward.

"Oh it's to meet Santa Clause!" Magnus exclaimed happily as he caught sight of a sign.

"What?" Alec frowned "Isn't that like...a mundane myth?"

"It's real" Magnus said seriously "And we have to get Max to meet him"

"Magnus...He'll just start crying" Alec shook his head, looking down at the baby in his arms fondly

"He will not!" Magnus protested "He'll enjoy it! And he'll tell Santa what he wants for Christmas"

"Christmas is tomorrow" Alec deadpanned "And we already bought him gifts"

"Stop being such a spoil sport" Magnus pouted "At least we can get a photo with Santa!"

"You and Max can get a photo" Alec said "I will wait for you outside"

"Oh please!" Magnus whined "It'll be a family photo!"

"With a fat guy in a red suit?" Alec snorted "No thanks"

"You, mister, are no fun" Magnus pouted and then turned towards Max who was entertaining himself with the little wooden horse. "Your papa is not a fun person, Max...You have to learn from me"

"Please don't" Alec smiled down at his son.

The line kept moving forward for a couple of minutes until it was time for the Bane-Lightwood family. An old man dressed like Santa Clause was sitting on a big chair just beneath the christmas tree. The rest of the people who worked at the stand were dressed like Christmas elves. The little bells in their suits jingled with every move they made and the old man laughed the classic Santa laugh when he caught sight of little Max.

Alec passed Max towards Magnus, who cooed happily at the baby and walked towards the man dressed as Santa. Max looked around unsure of everything, and started to fuss around when Magnus tried to pass it on towards Santa.

"Well, who do we have here!" the man in the red suit smiled, taking Max in his arms.

Max whimpered, looking around to find his papa or daddy. Alec moved closer to him, posture already tense and ready to make a move if his son was hurt somehow. He was feeling uneasy, seeing how Max was reacting to the strange man.

"Oh don't cry Max" Magnus cooed, just behind the chair of Santa and smiling down at him. "I'm right here!"

Max looked up and extended his arms towards Magnus, trying to reach him. Max wanted to be taken back in his daddy's arms, but Magnus just ruffled his hair, stroking his horns.

"His name is Max" Magnus grinned at the old man "And this is his first time meeting Santa!"

"Well hello Max" the man smiled down at the little boy, putting him down so he was sitting on his lap.

Alec moved closer, his eyes locked with Max and making sure the man was not going to drop him. Magnus gave him a look that clearly read 'don't worry', but of course Alec would worry.

"What would you like for Christmas, Max?" Santa asked.

Max looked at him, with wide blue eyes. His eyes were starting to fill with tears and his lip was trembling, but he did not cry. Magnus stayed in sight, so that calmed Max a little bit.

"Should we take a photo?" a girl dressed like an elf asked.

"Yes!" Magnus exclaimed happily.

"Where is the mother?" Santa asked "Isn't she joining the photo?"

"No...but his father is" Magnus grinned, pulling Alec closer.

Alec started to protest but stopped when Max's eyes turned towards him and reached his little arms upwards. Once again, his hand opened and closed, trying to get a hold of his papa.

The girl with the elf costume came back with some Santa hats. Magnus clapped happily as he took the hats and placed one on top of his head. Alec, who had reached down his hand for Max to take, had not noticed the hats until Magnus placed one on top of his head. Alec looked up, startled at the new garment, and Max burst into laughter at the sight of Alec with the Santa hat. Magnus grinned as the Santa Clause man burst into 'ho ho ho's, bouncing Max in his knee. The elf girl supplied with a smaller hat for Max, which Magnus placed carefully. Max looked up at the feeling of the new garment on top of his head, and giggled as it tickled his forehead.

"Ready for the photo?" The elf girl smiled, pointing at a man with a camera right in front of them.

"Yes!" Magnus grinned.

The group looked towards the camera, and the man who took the photo was able to catch Max just as he burst into another wave of laughter. Magnus was grinning from ear to ear and Alec even had a small smile on his face. Once the photo was done, Alec took Max from the Santa Clause man.

"Ho Ho Ho, happy holidays!" the man waved at them as they walked off.

"Thank you!" Magnus waved back, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can't believe you got me into the photo" Alec shook his head, hugging Max close to his body.

"Oh you loved it" Magnus rolled his eyes.

He squealed happily when another girl dressed like an elf gave them the photo, together with a cheap paper frame. The photo was beautiful, and Magnus absolutely loved it.

"Oh look at that!" Magnus cooed at the photo, showing it to Alec.

"It isn't bad" Alec nodded, but still had a fond smile on his face.

"I'll frame it!" Magnus said "And take copies and send them to everyone we know!"

"Please don't do that" Alec pleaded "I have enough teasing from Jace and Isabelle. I don't need more"

"I'll send one to Maryse at least" Magnus said "She would like a photo of her grandson's first photo with Santa"

"I suppose" Alec sighed.

Together, the three of them made their way towards a small coffee shop at the end of the street. Alec went looking for a table for them while Magnus went towards the counter to order some food himself and Alec. As he took a seat, Max placed securely on his lap, Alec started to prepare another bottle of milk for Max to drink. Placing the bib around Max's neck, Alec started to feed Max. The baby took the bottle from Alec's hand and drank it himself. His eyes wandered around, looking at the small shop and the people inside of it with curiosity. Alec kept his hands securely around Max's body, keeping a close eye on him so he would not drop all the milk.

"Oh Gosh!" a woman squealed "Your son is so cute!"

"Thanks" Alec said, looking up at the woman who stood just next to his table.

"What's the name of such beauty?" The woman gushed, moving forward to touch Max's cheek.

Alec pulled Max back, away from the lady in front of them. Call it being overprotective, but he was not going to let anyone he did not know get near his son. The woman composed herself, trying not to show the shock of being denied getting close to the baby. She fixed her shirt, pulling it down a little bit and showing off her cleavage. Alec tried hard not to roll his eyes and instead looked down at Max, bouncing him on his lap and fixing the bottle on his mouth.

"Where is the mother?" The woman asked.

"Not around" Alec answered, still not minding the woman and willing her to leave.

"You're so brave for taking care of him on your own" the woman said, leaning down slightly.

"He doesn't" a voice said behind her.

The woman straightened up and looked around, spotting Magnus with their food. He placed the food on the table and crossed his arms, staring down at the woman in front of him.

"Anything we can do for you?" Magnus asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh...you know them?" She asked, pointing at Alec and Max.

"You mean my partner and son? Yeah, I know them" Magnus said and grinned slightly at the shocked look on the woman.

"Oh...I-I didn't know" The woman said, taking a step back.

"Clearly" Magnus remarked "Now...off you go. I'm trying to spend Christmas Eve with my family"

"Of course...sorry" She smiled nervously at them and walked off.

Magnus huffed and took a seat across from Alec. The Shadowhunter chuckled and looked down at Max, taking the bottle from his hands now that it was empty. Magnus gave Alec his sandwich and iced-tea while he took his Mocha Frappuccino and double cheese sandwich. They started eating, chatting about nothing and making sure Max was alright.

"so..what's next on the agenda?" Alec asked.

"Well...I suppose we could go back home" Magnus pondered, his perfectly manicured finger tapping against his chin "I'm not so sure what the proper tradition for today is"

"Seriously?" Alec raised an eyebrow "Just this morning you said we had all day planned out!"

"I did!" Magnus protested "Almost..."

"You're impossible" Alec chuckled, shaking his head. "I have the perfect plan then"

"Oh yeah?" Magnus asked, interested in what the Nephilim had in mind.

"You want to start creating traditions with Max, yeah?" Alec asked and continued as Magnus nodded his head. "I have one I would like to practice with him...i-if you want to"

"I would love to" Magnus smiled sweetly at his partner.

Magnus did not ask what that tradition Alec was talking about, but he knew he would go along with it no matter what. As they finished eating, they made their way home. They still had a couple of hours before they had to get ready to go to the New York Institute for Christmas dinner.

Once home, they took off their coats and boots and moved towards the living room. Magnus went towards the nursery to change Max's diaper while Alec prepared his plan on the living room. While Max was ready, Magnus walked downstairs and found Alec preparing a bed-like place on the living room's floor. Magnus raised an eyebrow as Alec finished placing the pillows on top of all the covers Alec had placed on the floor. Magnus placed Max between some pillows and Max rolled over his stomach and started babbling in his cute baby language. Magnus sat down next to Max as Alec placed a DVD on the TV. Taking the control remote, Alec sat next to Magnus, Max in between them both.

"What is all this?" Magnus asked, resting against the front of the sofa.

"When I was a little kid" Alec started to explain "Usually my parents would be in Idris for Christmas Eve. They would not come back until late at night or until Christmas morning. My siblings and I used to spend all day together and Hodge would prepare Christmas dinner for us. Back when we were kids, I caught interest in Mundane traditions for holidays. I would go around the city, seeing everyone shopping and celebrating Christmas, and one of the things that caught my attention the most were the christmas films. So we convinced Hodge of letting us buy some christmas classic movies and we started watching them every Christmas Eve...I remember we would create a fort in front of the TV and watch movies all day long. Max...he used to love that. As we grew older, there were very few things we could do with him, since he was so young. He could not go to train with us or visit the shops Jace and Izzy liked to go because he would quickly grow bored. The movies...it was the one thing we could all enjoy together."

Magnus was at a loss of words. It didn't use to happen, but since he started dating Alec he realized it would happen more often. Alec would just amaze him in so many ways, Magnus was left speechless. When Alec decided to share some story about his late brother, Magnus cherished every second of it. It meant Alec was opening his heart out for him. Alec had loved his little brother very much and it still pained him to talk about him. So much that he tried not to unless it was necessary. But when Alec talked about Max Lightwood, about their time together like he had just done...Magnus listened to every word and saved it in his mind.

Their somber thoughts were interrupted when Max Bane-Lightwood burst in laughter. The couple looked at their son and found him sitting down in between the pillows, looking at the TV. The animated movie of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was playing and Max was looking at it with joy. His blue eyes were bright with glee as he saw the figurines move on the screen.

Magnus sighed happily, leaning more comfortably against the sofa. He placed an arm around Alec's shoulders and pulled him closer to his body. After so many years of being alive, he finally knew what happiness felt like.

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 **So...yeah! :D Who liked it?**

 **I enjoyed writing it! and I hope you enjoyed reading!**

 **This story is dedicated to Natalie and Nadine, my favorite girls :)**

 **So remember, if you have any prompts you can let me know and I might write them!**

 **Also read my other story 'Marked'!**

 **Happy Holidays!**

 **xxX**


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